Gang edger



4 Sheets-'Sheet 1. A. E. ROE. GANG EDGER..

(No Model.)

Patented July 1, 1 896).

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' 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. E. ROE.

GANG EDGER.

(No Model.)

No. 431,483. PatentedJuly 1, 1890.

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(No Model.)

Patented July 1, 1890.

1 (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

A. E. ROE.

GANG EDGER. No. 431,483. Patented July 1,1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. ALPI-IEUS E. ROE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE VULCANIRON IVORKS, OF SAME PLACE.

GANG-EDGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,483, dated July 1,1890*. Application fi November 4,1889. Serial No. 329,234. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHEUs E. ROE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,have invented an Improvement in Gang- Edgers; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the construction ofgang-edgers or scantling-machines; and it consists in certain details ofconstruction, which will be more fully explained by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end view showing thegearing and connections for raising and lowering the feed-rolls and themechanism for changing the saws. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portionshowing the saw-adjusting mechanism. Fig. 3 is an end view showing themeans for driving the feed-rolls. Fig. 4c is a side view.

A-is the frame of the machine.

B is the saw-arbor, journaled in boxes and extending centrally from endto end of the frame, having suitable driving-pulleys upon the end of thearbor.

C are the saws, which are fixed in collars, these collars being fittedto slide upon feathers or keys longitudinally upon the arbor, so as tobe moved nearer to or farther from each other, and by this adjustmentthe width of the material to be cut by the gang of saws is determined.In order to move these saws, each of the collars has a groove or channelcut around it, into which the curved end of the lever-armE is adapted tofit. This arm is fulcrumed upon a sliding yoke or carriage E, which isadapted to travel upon a guide or way E parallel with the 'saw-arbor,and when it is moved one way or the other it acts through the arm tomove the saw with it. The lever-arms E are pivoted to the carriage E, asshown at F, so that it it is desired to remove the saws from the arborthese arms may be turned about their pivots, and thus disengaged fromthe collars of the saws and turned up out of the way, so that the sawscan he slipped off of the arbor. A handle G is fulcrumed to the yoke E,and the inner end of this handle forms a short arm, which is adapted toengage with teeth or notches H in the figure-bar I, and thus hold theadj usting-arms E and the saws at any desired position.

The figures on the figure-bar I represent certain fractions of lumbermeasurement, and the teeth or notches 11, corresponding with thesefigures, represent the fractional value of each notch. The weight of theouter end of the handle is sufficient to keep the inner end engaged withits notch; but when the handle is lifted the inner end'is disengaged,and the whole device may be pushed to one side or the other, thus movingthe saw upon its arbor.

The guide or plate E by which the carriages or yokes E are directed, hasfour grooves e, in each of which one of the slides e of the yokes isfitted to travel. These grooves or channels are made in the lower faceof the plate, so as to prevent sawdust from accumulating in them, andthus preventing the free movement of the slides. These slides are ofconsiderable length, (ten or twelve inches,) so as to move easily, andnot bind when the yokes and saws are moved from side to side, and thefirst four are arranged to follow each other successively in thegrooves, after which the fifth and sixth are placed in the first andsecond grooves again, as they will be so far from the first and secondas not to interfere with them, and thus these four guides serve for theadjustment of the Whole six saws, as shown in Fig. 2.

J and K are the rolls through which the lumber passes, and by which itis fed to the saws. The upper rolls have each end journaled in boxes j,which move up and down in suitable guides j upon the end posts of theframe.

L L are jointed connecting-rods having the upper ends hinged or pivotedat the upper corners of the frame at Z, and the lower ends hinged orpivoted to the upper roll-boxesj, the centers of the rods being hingedtogetherat Z. There are two sets of these rods, one upon each side ofthe machine, and they are connected together by two parallel rods N,which extend along the sides of the frame of the machine and unite withthe connectingrods at their central meeting-point or kneejoint Z, thusconnecting the pair of each side together. The opposite rods L at eachend are also connected by transverse rods N.

O is a shaft extendinglongitudinally of the frame of the machineparallel with the sawarbor and above it, and P is a second shaftparallel with the shaft 0.

Q Q are spur gears or segments mounted upon the shaftP so asto engagewith pinions R, which are mounted upon the shaft 0.

S S are crank-links having one end pivoted to the meeting joints orknees of the suspending rods L, while the opposite end of each isconnected with the pin q,near the periphery of the spur gear or segmentQ, which is mounted upon the shaft P. Upon the end of the shaft 0 is aflanged pulley T, which receives motion by means of a belt a from aflanged pulley U, mounted upon the end of one of the lower feed-rollshafts.

V is a tightener-pulley journaled upon the swinging frame or pendulum W,so that when the tightener-pulley is pressed against the belt whichconnects the flanged pulleys the shaft 0 will be caused to rotate in onedirection, and by means of the pinions upon this shaft, which engagewith the spur gears or segments on the shaft P, these gears or segmentswill be turned, and through the 0011- necting-links S S, which unitethem with the connected series of suspending rods L of the upper rolljournal-boxes, the movement of the spur-gears will be communicated tothese rods and they will be pushed out to one side, thus acting to raisethe upper feed-rolls in proportion to the distance thatthey are pressedto one side. The swinging frame WV of the tightener-pulley V isconnected with a rockshaft 10, which extends along the front of themachine, and said shaft is provided with a continuous handle-bar 10, sothat no matter in what position the operator may be standing he cangrasp the handle-bar and operate the tightener-pulley.

The feed-rolls are caused to rotate in unison,

' whatever may be their position, by means of the gears a, b b, and c.The gear a is fixed upon the end of the lower feed-roll shaft, and

a bell-crank or right-angled arm cl has one end connected with thisshaft, so as to move about it. In the angle and at the opposite end ofthis arm are fulcrumed gears 19 b, one of which engages with the gear a,and the other with the gear 0, which is fixed to the upper feedrollshaft. A single link d connects the upper end of the right-angledlever-arm dwith the upper feed-roll, so that and by this connection itwill be seen that the upper feedrolls may be moved up or down by themechanism previously described without disengaging the gears, theangular levers (Z and links d holding them in proper relation with eachother, while allowing the feed-rolls to move up or down.

X is a brake-lever, which is connected with and operates a brake as,acting on an inner flanged face of pulley T on the end of shaft 0. Thelower end of this lever engages a rack 00, by which it is held in theposition to which it may be moved. Now after the feed-rolls have beenraised to the required position the brake so may be applied and setfixedly by the lever X engaging its rack 50', and thereby so brakingpulley T that it will hold the rolls inthe position'required.

Y is the drive-pulley on the saw-arbor, and 11 is a smaller pulley onthe arbor. From pulley y extends a belt 3 to a pulley g on a shaft Yabove. Upon this same shaft is a pulley On one side of this pulley is anidler-pulley 1 and on the other side is a tightener-pulley g carried inthe end of a weighted lever 1 On the end of the lower feed-rollshaft isa pulley 7c, and on the end of the shaft of the opposite lower feed-rollis a pulley An endless belt Z passes under pulley if, overtightener-pulleyy down under pulley 70 across to pulley 7c, and up toand over idler-pulley 3 By this arrangement the feed-rolls are driven ina direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the saws andwithout the use of a crossed belt.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is v 1'. In a gang-edger, the combination of aseries of saws adapted to be moved upon a sawarbor, the lever-armshaving curved ends removably connected with the saw-collars, the slidingyokes to which the lever-arms are pivotally secured, the figure-bar, andthe guideplate E having a grooved under surface, said yokes beingprovided with slides e, engaging the grooves of the guide-plate andhavinghandle portions whoseinner ends engage the figure-bar,substantially as herein described.

2. In a gang-edger, the combination of aseries of saws adapted to bemoved upon a sawarbor, the lever-arms having curved ends removablyconnected with the saw-collars, the figure-bar, the sliding yokepivotally secured to the lever-arms and having gravitating handles whoseinner ends engage the figure-bar, the longitudinally-groovedguide-plate, the guide E and the slides upon the yoke engaging theguides, substantially as described.

3. In a gang-edger, the vertically-movable upper feed-rolls, incombination with the means for moving them vertically, consisting of thejointed rods pivoted at their lower ends to the roll-shaft connectionsand at their up-- per ends to the main frame, a rotary shaft in the mainframe, and crank-links connecting said shaft with the jointed rods,whereby the latter are bent to raise and lower the rolls, substantiallyas herein described.

I 4. In a gang-edger, the vertically-movable upper feed-rolls, incombination with the means for moving them vertically, consisting of thejointed rods pivoted at their lower ends to the roll-shaft connectionsand at their upper ends to the main frame, a rotary shaft in the mainframe, gears on said shaft, crank-links connected with the gears andwith the j ointed rods, whereby the latter are bent, and a second rotaryshaftin the frame having pinions meshing with the gears of the firstshaft, substantially as herein described.

5. In a gang-edger, the vertically-movable upper feed-rolls, incombination with the jointed suspending rodshavingthelower endsconnected with the upper feed-roll boxes and the upper ends pivoted tothe upper part of the frame, connecting rods between the jointed rods,whereby the latter operate in unison, a rotary shaft in the main framehaving gears, crank-links connecting said gears with the jointed rods,whereby the latter are bent, a second rotary shaft with pinions engagingthe gears,'and a pulley on the second shaft, whereby it may be rotated,substantially as herein described.

6. In a gang-edger, the vertically-movable upper feed-rolls, incombination with the shaft O, intervening connections by which therotation of the shaft is directed to vertically move the upperfeed-rolls, the pulleyT on the end of shaft 0 and a belt for operatingit, the flanged face of said pulley, the brake on said face, the leverfor operating the brake, and the rack for holding the lever, whereby therolls may be held in desired position, substantially as hereindescribed.

7. In a gang-edger, the saw-arbor and the lower feed-rolls, incombination with the mechanism for driving the feed-rolls in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation of the saw-arbor, consisting ofthe shaft Y and pulleys and belt by which said shaft is driven from thesaw-arbor, the pulley g on the shaft Y, the idler and tightener pulleyson each side, the pulleys 70 k on the shafts of the lower feed-rolls,and the endless belt Z, all arranged and adapted to operatesubstantially as herein described.

8. In a gang-edger, the vertically-movable upper feed-rolls, the belt,pulleys, and intervening power-transmitting mechanism comprising thejointed rods, the rotary'shaft on the main frame, and crank-linksconnecting the shaft with the jointed rods for vertically moving saidrolls, in combination with the tightener-pulley for throwing the beltinto and out of operation, the swinging frame carrying said pulley, therock-shaft, on one end of which the frame is carried, and the handlebarof the shaft extending along the front of the machine, substantially asherein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALPHEUS E. ROE.

\Vitnesses:

COLIN McKELLAR, D. McKELLAR.

